


Not the Girl You Think You Are

by st_aurafina



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/F, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-08
Updated: 2011-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-14 14:20:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_aurafina/pseuds/st_aurafina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's always a bounty for intel on the Sanctuary, and Kate's funds are getting low.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not the Girl You Think You Are

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lyssie](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=lyssie).



> Thank you to Lilacsigil for the beta. Set before Season One. Title from Crowded House.

There's always a bounty for intel on the Sanctuary. It's a good little earner when Kate's funds are running low; even though she's far from the only person who watches those high stone walls, she always seems to find some neglected detail that is worth a few bucks. Like tonight: she's willing to bet that none of the tough guys watching the place can pick that the motorcyclist in black leather is actually a woman. Odds are that it's the daughter, Ashley, but you never know. Helen Magnus is a surprising woman, and Kate would be willing to bet she's comfortable in leather, too. And they say the Freelander family is dysfunctional.

Crouching low on the crumbling roof top of an abandoned building, Kate gets a few shots off with her camera before the bike peels away from the gate into the night. She's pleased with herself; this should keep her going for a few weeks. Maybe even get that debt collector off her brother's back for a while.

She steps back down the access ladder, grips the sides and slides easily to the floor below. Before her feet touch the floor, though, hands drag her from the ladder and fling her against the opposite wall. She slumps into a pile of soggy cardboard cartons and rats scurry everywhere. Great. Now she's going to get tetanus, or rabies, or knowing this part of town, some Abnormal version of the two.

Her attacker stomps across the floor in heavy leather biker books. Her face is hidden behind the tinted visor of the helmet. How the hell did she move so fast? They're nine storeys up. Kate scoots away on her backside, flinches as splinters dig into her already torn jeans, but keeps moving. The woman's head tilts, tracking her despite the glossy tinted visor of the helmet. She's just a little too fast, just a little too aware of every way Kate tries to dart away or vanish into the shadows. Kate realises she's gained another important piece of intelligence. It's not immediately obvious, and most people probably wouldn't notice: this woman is more than human. If she's not Abnormal, then she's at least something interesting, and interesting pays. Kate scampers into the next room and takes cover behind a mouldering sofa. If she can make it through this encounter, she could really go places on the back of this information. Makes connections. Get in with the big guys. She just has to survive this.

The woman moves into the room, silent despite the heavy boots. Kate only knows she's there because every other living thing in the room has instinctively gone still. Kate wants to live, just like the rats in the wall do, so she holds her breath and pretends not to be there.

A hand in a leather glove curls into Kate's jacket. The seams pop, and Kate is lifted into the air and over the back of the sofa. A cloud of mildew billows around her, catching in Kate's throat and tickling the end of her nose. The woman in the helmet leans closer, head tilted, menacing behind the gleam of the helmet.

Kate is concentrating so hard on what happens next that the sneeze sneaks up on her unexpectedly. It bursts forth from her nose, and sprays all over the woman's visor.

There's a moment of disbelief; even Kate is astounded and fascinated at the way snot is dripping from the surface of the helmet. A faint noise of disgust comes from behind the visor.

"Are you serious?" The woman pulls the helmet off gingerly. Turns out to be Ashley, all white-blonde hair and perfect bangs. "That is gross!"

Kate has a weird feeling, like she was back in high school and she'd just given the head cheerleader a wedgie. "Hey, you're the one kicking up all the dust, okay? I can't help it if I have allergies."

"That is the most disgusting thing I've seen in a long time, and I assume you know where I work, since you were taking my photo."

"Girl's got to make a living." Kate shrugs, coolly nonchalant now. There's something oddly disarming about Ashley, despite all the training and field experience she's undoubtedly had. Innocence is kind of a trashy word, as far as Kate is concerned, but it's the closest thing she can think of to explain the frank and open expression on Ashley's face.

Ashley holds out her hand. "Give me the camera, and I'll let you go."

"Why?" says Kate. "I mean, everyone knows you ride a bike. Who am I hurting, if I'm taking photos of something that everyone already knows?"

"You're pretty mouthy for someone who just sneezed in my face." Ashley is unimpressed with Kate's tough-guy routine.

Kate weighs up that open expression and leans forward with a knowing gaze. "Yeah? Whereas you're just plain pretty." It pays off; Ashley blushes like a comedy thermometer, pale skin flooding with red all the way to her hairline. Kate doesn't feel bad – it's true, after all. Ashley is like a doll, wide blue eyes and a perfect pouting mouth. A doll that could probably snap your neck, but still.

"Oh, come on." Kate knows she has the upper hand now. "Don't tell me you've never had a compliment from someone like me?"

Ashley puts both gloved hands on her hips. "I can honestly say I've never been paid a compliment by Sneezy the dwarf."

"Hey, watch the sizeist attitude!" Kate stands up as she speaks, then stops abruptly. "Oh." Those motorbike boots add height: Kate only comes up to Ashley's chin.

Ashley leans forward a little, towering over Kate. "You were saying?" The leather in her jacket creaks. Kate's pretty sure she only heard the sound because Ashley let it happen. She wonders what Ashley's skin feels like, all taut over corded muscle. All that control.

Kate tilts her head back, sets her hips at an angle just so. "So, we're flirting now? What would your mother say about that?"

To her credit, despite the blushing, Ashley isn't easily intimidated. "You know where she lives, if you'd rather be flirting with her."

Kate laughs, and it's not the hard, knowing laugh she intended it to be. Ashley is funny and fearless. Kate wishes she could get to know her under other circumstances.

"So?" Ashley raises her eyebrows. "Who is it going to be? Me? Or my mom? Or maybe we're both just too intimidating."

"Seriously?" says Kate. "You're calling my bluff on this?" She steps forward, till her body is pressed against Ashley's, and plants her lips hard on Ashley's mouth.

Ashley's eyes widen in surprise – Kate wonders what she was expecting to happen, if not this – but she valiantly, if awkwardly, rallies with an open mouth and insistent tongue. Kate is almost distracted by the speed with which Ashley quickly finds a comfortable posture: works out the angles of chin and nose and where to put her arms. She's kissing Kate back with assurance that she did not have a few moments ago. I wonder if she learns everything this fast, Kate thinks vaguely, with one hand caught in Ashley's hair and the other curled around her leather-clad ass.

Ashley pushes them apart gently but firmly when Kate's hands roam to the front of the leather jacket. "I have to go." Still, she is grinning widely, her pupils dilated and her colour high.

"Yeah?"Kate's breathing is a little ragged. "Anything I can do to convince you to stay? We have this comfy sofa."

Ashley picks up her helmet, it's covered in dry, flaky snot which she brushes off with a gloved hand. "I think maybe we should give that a miss."

Kate shoves her hands in her pockets. "You're probably right."

"I'll see you around." Ashley tucks the helmet under her arm and heads for the stairs.

"You want my number?" Kate calls down the crumbling staircase. It can't hurt. Maybe Ashley will invite her home for a play date. All she hears is laughter, then the roar of the motorbike.

The memory card from her camera is gone, of course. Kate wouldn't expect anything less. She looks at the long pale strands of hair caught between her fingers. She pulls a ziplock bag from one pocket and tucks the hair into it, careful not to damage the root at the end of each strand. It would be nice to be sitting behind Ashley on that bike, but Kate's not going to blow off her responsibilities. Instead, she'll just be glad she can recoup something on this little adventure.


End file.
